Tag-stamping machine



Sept ISO, 1930. o. T. WILKINSON TAG STAMPING MACHINE Filed April 17, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheen l {N VEN TOR Ill/Mn,

ATTORNEY 5 p 30, o. T. WILKINSON 1,777,270

TAG STAMPING MACHINE Filed April 17 1928 s Sheets-Sheet 2 p 1930- o. T. WILKINSON 1,777,270

TAG STAMPING MACHINE Filed April 17, 1928 s Sheets-Sheet 3 R A w m H N N a a m m 1 l 0 m w J A Q 7 1 10 0 6; a g5 J m re.

PAT?

OWEN T. VTILKINSON, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO LOS ANGELES RUB- BER STAMP (70., DE LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATEON 01? CALIFORNIA TAG-STAMIPING- TMIAGHINE Application filed April 17,

This invention relates to tag stamping machines, and the main object is to provide an improved means for stamping and cutting tags of uniform length from a continuous strip of metal, and for consecutively numbering and stringing the tags in numerical order on a suitable wire or rod.

Another object isto provide an improved feeding mechanism for tag stamping presses wherebysuccessive portions of a continuous metal tape may be accurately measured and advanced to stamping position.

A further objectis to provide means for accurately positioning the stamped and punched portions of the metal strip for a cutting operation and for stringing the severed tags in numerical order on a suitable receiving device therefor.

An object is to provide an improved mechanism adapted for attachment to a standard type of punch press so that sets of male and female consecutive numbering dies may be mounted on the bed and head of the press, respectively, in cooperative relation, to- 'gether with means for feeding the continuous strip of metal to stamping position, so that the successive portions of the strip may be stamped, punched, out and strung on a suitable device at each operation of the head.

0 Still other objects will appear as the description progresses.

I h ve shown in the accompa ying drawings an improved mechanism in preferred form for attaining the above objects, which mechanism is subject to modification within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

In said drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a portion of a standard type of power press with my im provements applied thereto;

F 2 is an end elevation of the power spindle of the press showing an adjustable means of connecting my mechanism with the driving means;

Fig. 3 is an end view of an adjustment de vice applied to the movable head of the press and adapted to cooperate with the device shown in Fig. 2;

19233. Serial No. 270,653.

l i is a plan of my improved mechanism I J1 .vn on line el of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation of the feed ing mechanism on line 5-5 of F ig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a transverse section of the numbering devices as seen on line 66 of l;

Fi 7 is a perspective view of a pivotally mounted pawl carrier typical of both sets of numbering devices Fig. 8 is a side elevation of a pawl employed in connection with both sets of numbering devices;

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of one of a pair of associated guides forming part of the tag stringing mechanism;

Fig. 10 is an end elevation of the tag stringing mechanism on line 101O of Fig. 1;

Fig. 11 is a fragmentary sectional plan of the same on line l111 of Fig. 10;

Fig. 12 is a fragmentary sectional elevation of the same on line 12 12 of Fig. 10;

Fig. 13 is a sectional plan of the same on line 18--18 of Fig. 10;

Fig. 14.- is a view of a completed tag stamped and numbered.

Inasmuch as the press to which my improvements are applied is oi standard type I have shown but fragments oi the same in the drawings as represented by a suitable frame F on which a head H is reciprocably mounted and is adapted to be o erated by means of the usual eccentric E. 53 l frame rotatably carries a spindle S which is journaled in the standards F, F at its opposite ends. The eccentric E is opera'oiy connected with the head H by means of a connecting rod it. Frame F supports a bed B relative to which the head H is intermittently movable by means of the eccentric l3.

Consecutive numbering devices N and N, respectively, re pro .ed on the head H and bed 13 which cooperate to stamp the numbers on the tags T as shown in Fig. i l. The numbering unit N is mounted on a suitable bracket a while the unit N is mounted on supports n, n attached to blocks Z) and b, po-

sitioned on the upper surface of the bed B.

A. continuous strip of metal M is wound on a reel M at the left end of the mechanism and is adapted to be fed longitudinally through the machine by means of a feeding mechanism A, as shown in Fig. 1. The feeding mechanism is supported on a pair of trans versely spaced members a and a which are attached to the bed B and have bearings 1 and 2 oppositely formed thereon, respectively for rotatably supporting a spindle 3. Other bearings l and 5 are provided. on the members a and a for rotatably supporting spindles 6 and 7.

Spindle 3 carries a ratchet wheel 8 on its inner end and a gear 9 adjacent the inner side of the bearin 2 while the outer or front end of said spindle carries a drum 10 which is engaged on its periphery by a pair of brake shoes 11., ll. Said shoes are pivotally held at 12 on the member a and the upper ends there of are adjustably connected by means of a bolt 13 for regulating the friction of the shoes on the drum.

Gear 9 is connected with a gear 14 on spindle 6 by, means of an idler gear 15 which is rotatably held on the member a by means of a shaft or stud 1G. Spindle 6 carries a feed roller 17 which cooperates with a similar roller 18 on spindle 7 for feeding the metal tape M through the machine. Spindle 7 driven by means of a gear 19 which meshes with gear 14 on spindle 6 and is resiliently mounted with respect to spindle 6 so as to permit the slight sepa 'ation of the rollers 1'4 and 18 to permit the tape M to move therebetween.

To this end vertically movable bearings 20, 20 are mounted to slide in slots 21, 21 in the portions 4 and 5 of the members a and a, respectively. Springs 22, 22 are held in compression between the bearings 20, 20 and caps 23, attached to the upper ends of the portions t and by means of bolts or cap screws as at 24. The ratchet 8 is intermittently operated by means of a connecting rod 25 which is pivotally connected at 26 with an arm 27 having an axis on the spindle 3. Said arm carries a pawl 28 which is pivoted at 29 to the arm .27 and is held in engagement with the ratchet 8 by means of :1V spring 30.

The upper end of connecting rod 25 is pivoted at 31 to a slide 32 which reciprocates in a groove 33 formed in a fixture 34 attached to the frame F, as shown in Fig. 3. Slide 32 in turn is connected with an eccentric 35 carried on the end of a spindle S by means of a rod 36, said rod being pivoted at 37 to slide 32 and at 38 to eccentric 35.

The pivot pin 38 adjustably and pivot-ally connects the rod 36 with the eccentric 35, a groove 39 being provided therein in which the pin slides so as to adjust the throw of the rod 36- to conform to the required length of metal tape M which is adapted to be fed at each operation of the machine to the stamping press.

The reel M which carries the. metal tape M is rotatably mounted on a bolt 40 which spans a pair of standards 41, 41 carried on the ends of a pair of brackets d2, 42 extended from the bed B of the machine. he standards 41 may be extended so as to accommodate a plurality of the reels M, if desired, as shown in Fig. 1. Thus the tape M is fed from the reel M between the members a and a and beneath a plate 43 suitably attached to said members. From thence the .apc is fed between the rollers 17 and 18 which frictionally engage the tape and move the same into the machine and between the stamping dies N and N.

Vi l n the 'l'erward end of the tape M is properly 1; oned for a stamping operation, as shown in Fig. i, at the beginning of a series of consecutive stamping and num boring operations, the initi l downward thrust of the head H will move stamping and numbering dies N into cooperative engagement with the strip M, which together with the dies N will imprint upon a portion of the tape the beginning of series of consecutive numbers. At each movement of the head H similar numbering and stamping operations will be effected and the successive portions of the tape T will be consecutively numbered.

Head H also has a punch 44: held in the member a in registration with an aperture in the member a which serves to punch a hole as at in the inner end of each successive portion of the tape when the head It is moved downwardly. At the same time the metal is stamped and punched, the tags '1. are cut from the strip of tape by means of a pair of cooperating cutters C and C which are attached respectively to the head H and to a block 5 held on the bed ii, as shown in Fig. 12. The cutter C has a pair cl oppositely formed arcuate cutting edges i7 and 48 formed thereon which cooperate with similar edges 47 and 48 on the cutter C of the head for cutting the tape M at adjacent ends. The tape M is fed at each operation of the machine and prior to the downward movement of head H so that the inner end of the completed tag T will engage the cutting edge l8 and the previously punched hole lli will register with a vertical stringing rod 19 which is concentrically positioned relative to the edge 48. The succeeding movement of head H will effect the cooperation of the cutters C and C to out the tape M at two separate and slightly spaced points, as shown in Fig. 4, coincident with the cutting edges 47 and 48. This operation, each time, leaves the inner end of the completed tag in such a position that it will readily drop on to the tapered end 50 of the rod 49, while the scrap pieces, as at 51, will be ejected from the machine by suitable means not essential to this invention.

By reference to Fig. 12 it will be observed that the cutter C has a plunger which is provided with a head 59. corresponding in form to and slidable in the cutter C. This head is urged downwardly from the cutter C by means or a compression sprii'ig 53 on the stem 5st thereof. The cutter C has a recess 55 to receive a head 52 and the head H has a bore 57 to slidably receive the stem 5st of the plunger, while the head also has a counterbore 56 to receive an enlargement 58 on the plunger, in which the spring 53 is held. Cutter G has a pair of upstanding lugs 60, 60 which engage a'recessed portion 52 of head 52.

A plunger 61 is also provided in the block Z) with a head 62 and a stem 63. Said head operates in a recess 6st and is urged upwardly by a spring held in compression between the head 62 and the bottom of the recess 6%. The stem 63 seats in a bore 65 and is moved downwardly during a cutting operation. Thus the metal M is held over the head 62 prior to and during a cutting operation and prevents a crinkling or bending of the end of a tag. The tape M is ted through a slot 66 in block b beneath a plate 66.

It will be noted that the block Z) has a vertical groove 67 which registers with and extends downwardly from the cutting edge 18 of cutter C and that the rod 49 is concentrically held in said groove, so that the successive tags T will be strung on the rod in consecutive order. has a pair of transversely and oppositely movable bars 68 and 69 which underlie the cutting edge 18 and normally overlie the upper end oi the groove 67 in said block, so as to provide a seat for the inner end of the tags T. These bars are adapted to be retracted at the completion or each stamping and cutting operation so as to permit the tags to drop on to the rod 4L9 in succession and are actuated by means of a pair of similar bars 70 and 71 which are rigidly attached to and depend from a portion 7 2 ofthe head H by means of feet 73 and 7 1, respectively. The lower ends of said bars carry pins 75 and 76 which are adapted to engage and depress porions 77 and 78 of bell cranks D and D which are pivoted to the block Z) at points 79 and 80, respectively. Vertical arms 81 and 82 on said bell cranks have reduced upper end portions 83 and 84 respectively which seat in correspondin apertures in the outer ends of the bars 68 and 69. Thus when the head H moves downwardly the pins 75 and 76 engage the arms 77 and 78 of bell cranks D and D and move them downwardly against the tension of springs 85 and 86, while the arms 81 and 82 are correspondingly moved outwardly together with the bars 68 and 69. The operation of bars 68 and 69 are so timed that they will retract only upon the completion of a cutting operation and will be restored upon the initial upward movement of the head.

When the tape M is positioned, as in Fig. 11 over the cutter C and rod 19 and bars The top of block I) i 68 and 69, the initial movement of the head H downwardly will engage a tubular plunger 87 with the tape M and eilect the retrac tion upwardly of the plunger into a recess 88 in the cutter base C, while its stem 89 will slide in'a bore 90 and an enlargement 91 thereon will move in a counterbore 92 against the tension of a spring 93 held in said coun terbore and tending to urge the plunger outwardly. At the completion of the cutting operation the tubular plunger 87 will force the completed tag downwardly on to the rod 19 and the plunger will encompass said rod for a substantial distance prior to the begin ning of the upstroke of the head, so as to insure the deposit of the tags on the rod 49 at each operation.

The numbering devices N and N are standard equipment, or rather of well known type and embody progressive numbering dies in the "form of wheels 94-, 941 etc., arranged in ascending order by units, tens, hundreds, thousands, etc. The stamping segments 95 are arranged at regular intervals on the pe ipheries of the wheels and each wheel has a ratchet 96 with ten notches 97 therein adapted to be engaged successively by de tents 98 which are pivotally mounted as at 99 on portions 100 and are resiliently held in engagement with the ratchets by means of springs 101, for preventing the operation of the wheels in other than a single direction. The wheels 9% are moved forwardly, etc by step, by means of a composite pawl 102 wliich has a plurality of spaced arms 103, 103 etc. of diti erent length. The longest ofthese arms registers with and is adapted to operate the units counter wheel, the HBXtlO the longest operates the tens wheel, etc. so that the operation of the wheels will progress from units to tens, from tens to hundreds, etc. for maintaining a proper sequence in a number ing operation. Needless to say the units N and N are synchronized so that the same numbers will be in operative position on both sets of dies at each operation of the press.

The pawl 102 is pivotally held on a carrier 10d of U shape, the arms 105 and 106 are pivoted on the shaft as at 107 of the numbering wheels. The pawl is held resiliently in engagement with the ratchets by means of a suitable tension spring 108. The units N and N are similarly operated to a like extent at each operation of the head H by means of bars 109 and 110 which are pivotally and slidably connected with the pawl carriers 104: of the units N and N, respectively. Said bars have elongated slots 111 which receive pins 112 projecting from one of the arms 105 or 106 of the pawl carriers 10 1, as shown in Fig. 6. On tie downward movement of the head H the bar 109 will initially slide on the pin 112 until the pin reaches the bottom of slot 111. The bar which is pivotally attached at its lower end to a portion of the fixture n will effect the movement of the pawl carrier and pawl for a sufficient distance to advance the numbering wheels one tenth of a revolution. Likewise the bar 110 being similarly connected with the unit i N and pivoted at its upper end to the fixture n, will operate the unit N to conform to the. operation of unit N, by the same means andat the same time.

Reverting to the bars 68 and 69, it will be noted in Fig. 9 that the upper portion of block I) has a pair of fixtures 11 i and ll? which are attached to block I) by suitable means on opposite sides of the groove (57 for directly supporting s. .d bars tor operation. The upper ends of said fixtures have grooves 116 therein in which the bars (58 and (it) are adapted to slide and recesses 117 are provided in extensions 118 for the reception of the arms 81 and 82 of the bell cranks D and D.

In operation, the metal tape M fed intermittently by means of the rollers 17 and 18 from the reel M into position between the numbering dies N and N, the tape being held against lateral movement beneath the plates 4-3, .43 and (36, with the outer end of the tape extended beyond the cutting edge 4-"? of the cutter (1' at the beginning of a series of operations.

The feeding of the tape as described is accomplished by means of the upward movement of the head H while the numbering dies are correspondingly actuated on either the up stroke or the down stroke of the head for the ensuing numbering and stamping opera tion. The first opcratioi'rof a series with a given strip ot material punches the holes 46 in the tags T and the outer end of the tape is trimmed simultaneously therewith by the cutters C and C at the cutting edge 47. At the subsequent operations of a series the com pleted tag T is severed from the strip M and the succeeding tag is punched and numbered. Thus the tags are punched and numbered bel'iore they are cut from the tape.

The female die C on the head H istead of the bed I as is usual in punch pr .1 and the plunger head oi the upper die on gages the metal tape M near the completion of the down stroke of the die C and before the dies C and C are moved into operative engagement. Thus the head52 serves to resiliently hold the tape M in cutting position. As die C moves further in the direction of die C the head 52 is retracted against the tension of spring 53. At the completion of the cutting operation the lugs 60, 60 on die C engage the recessed portion 52 on head 52 for a further distance equal approximately to the thickness of the tape M. When the die C is retracted upwardly the tension of spring 53 serves to eject the waste portions of the tape, while the completed tags T are fed by means of the plunger 87 on to the stringing rod 49, the sliding bars 68 and 69 having just previously been retracted out- Wardly. Succeeding operations are accomplished in like manner in rapid succession and the tags are consecutively numbered.

When the tape M on the operative reel M is exhausted the machine may be stopped while another reel is substituted for the previous reel.

The tape 11 from the reel is threaded by hand through the guide plate 413 and into position of engagement with the rollers 17 and 18, whereupon the feed rollers are turned by hand until the tape is properly positioned between the stamping dies N andN. Accordingly the first ensuing stamping operation will completely stamp, number and form the first of a series of tags and the surplus material at the discharge end of the machine will be cut therefrom.

Such a mechanism as I have disclosed herein is valuable in the production of large quantitics of consecutively numbered tags in that it provides automatic means for feeding, numbering, forming, counting, cutting and stringing the tags, whereas in other devices many of these operations have been accomplished manually and at much slower speeds than is possible with my improvements.

hat I claim is 1- 1. A machine of the character described comprising relatively movable and c0rrc spondingly operative consecutive numbering dies, means for feedin successive portions of a continuous strip of metal into stamping position between said dies, means for cutting the stamped portions from said strip, means for punching a hole in each stamped and cut portion of the strip and a stringing rod arranged to project thru the holes of the successive stamped and cut portions for collecting and holding stamped and cut portions in consecutive order.

A tag stamping machine comprising a press, stamping dies thereon, means for automatically feeding successive portions of a continuous strip of material to and from position between said dies, and means for simultaneously punching, stamping and cutting each successive portion of the strip to form a tag, and means for collecting the tags formed from said strip in consecutive order.

3. A tag stamping machine comprising a press, stamping dies thereon, means for feeding successive portions of a strip of material to and from position between said dies, means for adjusting the feeding mechanism for varying the length of the portions so fed to the dies, means for punching apertures in corresponding positions on the successive portions 01 the strip and means engaging said apertures for collecting the completed tags in consecutive order.

4.. A tag stamping machine comprising a press, relatively movable and stationary dies thereon, means for feeding tag forming material to and from position between said dies, cutters associated with said dies, one of said cutters provided with a yieldable head adapted to engage the stamped tags prior to the cutting operations, and means for collecting said tags in consecutive order.

5. A tag stamping machine comprising a press, relatively movable and stationary dies thereon, means for feeding successive portions of a strip of material to and from position between said dies, means for cutting the stamped tags from said strip, a tag receiving member, means normally preventing the deposit of and retractable to permit the deposit of the tags thereon, and yieldable means associated with the movable die and operable while said last mentioned means is retracted, for effecting the deposit of the tags in consecutive order on said receiving member.

6. A tag stamping machine comprising a press, relatively movable and stationary stamping dies thereon for consecutively numbering successive tags, means for feeding successive portions of an elongated strip of material to and from position between said dies, a yieldable member forengagement with the stamped tags during acutting operation, cutters for separating the tags, a collecting member, and yieldable means cooperating with said collecting member and for engagement with said tags for depositing the same in consecutive order on the collecting member.

7. A tag stamping machine comprising a frame, a bed and a relatively movable head on said frame, stamping dies mounted respectively on said bed and on said head, means for feeding successive portions of a strip of material to and from position between said dies, means for intermittently moving said head for effecting the cooperation of the dies in successive stamping operations, means for cutting the completed tags from said strip of material, and means for collecting said tags on a common receiving member in the order in which they are stamped.

8. A tag stamping machine comprising a press, stamping dies thereon, one of said dies being reciprocable relative to the other die, means for feeding a strip of metal into and from position between said dies, means for cutting the strip to form tags, means for receiving the completed tags in consecutive order, means associated with the reciprocable die for depositing the successive tags on said receiving means.

9. A tag stamping machine comprising a press, relatively movable and stationary dies thereon for simultaneously numbering, and punching apertures in and cutting, each successive portion to form consecutively numbered tags, means for progressively feeding a strip of metal to and from position between press, dies mounted on said press including fixed members and relatively reciprocable members tor consecutively numbering, cuting, and perforating successive portions of metal, means for intermittently feeding a strip of material into and from position between said dies, a rod mounted at right angles to the strip of material, and a plunger cooperating with said rod for collecting the successive tags on the rod at the completion of each opera Lon.

1:2. A tag stamping machine comprising a press, relatively movable dies thereon for consecutively numbering, perforating, and cutting successive tags from a strip of material, means 'for intermittently feeding a strip of metal into and from position between said dies, said dies being operative to punch and number successive portions of the strip of material in one operation, and to sever the successive tags from the strip of material at a succeeding operation.

13. A stamping machine as characterized in claim 12, and means for collecting and supporting the tags in consecutive order subsequent to the severing of the tags from the strip of material.

14. A tag stamping machine comprising a press, relatively reciprocable dies mounted thereon, means for intermittently feeding successive portions of a strip of metal into and from position between said dies, means on said dies for perforating and consecutively numbering said portions in a given operation and for severing the portions from the strip at a succeeding operation.

15. A tag stamping machine as characterized in claim. M, and means in registration with the perforations on the COIHPlQiGCl tags :or collecting the tags in consecutive order.

16. A tag stamping machine comprising a press, a fixed die and a relatively movable die thereon, means for intermittently feeding successive portions of a strip of material into and from position between said dies, means included in said dies for consecutively numbering and perforating the stamped portions of said strip of material at corresponding extremities of said portion, means for supporting said stamped portions in collecting position on said press, and means operative subsequent to the consecutive numbering and perforating mechanisms for cutting the tags from said strip of material and for collecting the. same in conse-ent-ive order.

1 7. A tag stamping machine comprising a press, a fixed die and a relativeiy movabledie thereon, means for intermittentiy feeding successive portions of a strip of material into and from position between said, dies, means for consecutively numbering and perforating successive portions of sai and for forming the outer ends of said p0rtions at given operations of the machine, and means for cutting said. strip of material at the inner ends of said tag forming pen dons aeeuccessive operations of the machine.

18. A tag stamping machine as characterized in claim l'i", and means'for collecting said tagsrin consecutive order subsequent to the severing operation.

OWEN '1. WILKINSON.

d strip offniaterial. 

